I confess I have a naturally negative and highly critical brain.
A lot of us do.
Evolutionarily that quality has kept us alive.
The more negative and critical someone was, the more likely they could anticipate and avoid danger.
Some of us are wired that way, and some develop a tendency to be more negative if we’ve had trauma or abuse in our past or if we grew up with a negative parent.
That external parental voice often becomes our internal voice.
The good news is you are not your brain.
Your brain is an organ in your body, like your heart.
If we were our brains, we would all be the same, like robots.
But you are so much more.
You are uniquely gifted with your interests, desires, and dreams.
If you, like me, lean toward negativity and judgment, you can override and train your brain to be more positive.
There are many ways that I help my clients do this, but I’d like to share one technique with you today.
Those of us that use social media often use it against ourselves.
Your negative default system will unconsciously judge, criticize and compare and despair.
This is draining to your brain.
If you tend to feel worse after being on social media, try this:
Use it consciously.
Decide before you get on to set a time limit. Set your alarm.
Decide the purpose for getting on.
Are you taking a break and want to relax?
Are you checking notifications?
Are you checking in to see what’s going on with friends?
Are you going to watch reels? Why?
Do you want to laugh, learn, or be inspired?
Decide to think a positive thought about each post and the person posting.
This might be a stretch at first, but you can do it.
Decide to leave at least 3-5 positive, encouraging, appreciative comments.
Be active and engaged. Give a little instead of just consuming.
Do this every day or however often you check social media.
It won’t be long before you create a new habit of automatically thinking kind, generous, positive thoughts.
You will begin to feel energized instead of drained.
And when you feel better, you do better, and when you do better, you have a better life.